garbled

adjective

gar·​bled ˈgär-bəld 

: made unclear or confusing : distorted or mixed up

a garbled message

garbled speech

… scientific cranks—those folks who concoct garbled and grandiose pseudo-scientific theories …

—Robert W. Wilson

A garbled group of syllables came over the speaker.

—Tom Clancy

But so much happened afterward to him that his five-day drive from Cracow to Warsaw soon became a garbled fading memory.

—Herman Wouk

Since the algorithm relies on the absolute accuracy of everything it has read to build the file, garbled information could lead to any number of mistakes.

—Paul C. Schuytema

Examples of garbled in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Henk van Ess, an investigative trainer and verification specialist, says many of the classic tells—incorrect finger counts, garbled protest signs, distorted text—have largely been fixed in the latest generation of models. —Gia Chaudry, Wired News, 11 Apr. 2026

The front desk clerk exchanged passports for iron keys while also running a prostitute ring; peddlers roamed the premises hawking lacquer boxes and sports jerseys in garbled English. —Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026

And in between, garbled Irish mumbling. —Deborah Sengupta Stith, Austin American Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026

But in such situations the public messaging can become garbled, with people taking away huge ranges in snowfall, say from 4 to 18 inches, even though the experts see the high-end amount of 18 inches as a low probability, high impact outcome. —Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1757, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for garbled

• marbled